Tuesday 11 September 2001 - Wednesday 12 September 2001

Next day we watched the TV all morning hoping in vain for some good news but just getting politicians trying to sound decisive and in control when they actually didn't have any more idea than the rest of us what was going on. Bush 'declared war on terrorism', whatever that means. Tried to phone England, but couldn't get a connection via our phone card as just about everyone was trying to phone friends and family.

In the afternoon we drove and walked round Montreal; for lunch we had a smoked meat sandwich as strongly recommended to us by our tour guide in Ottawa (it turned out to be pastrami). The city seemed empty, especially the Olympic Park which contains the pretty but strangely pointless BioDome ...

The basilica is beautiful, but our favourite item was a piece of sculpture in the old area celebrating the foundation of the city which comprises some scrap metal, a dustbin lid and what looks like a large lump of snot ...

Quebec is unashamedly, blatantly, French. In the surrounding provinces all road and information signs are in both French and English as required by law; in Quebec, French only. The quality of driving is unbelievably bad, even worse than in Paris if that's possible. The architecture is also very French influenced, but that's not surprising given that Quebec is where nearly all the French settlers ended up. However, to be fair, we didn't see any signs of the rabid Quebecois separatism we'd been warned about, and weren't treated rudely or unpleasantly - no more so than English people are in France, anyway.

Interesting info #17: Speaking of translations, one puzzling thing we've found is that, where English and French versions are provided on a notice, advertisement, set of instructions etc. , one is very seldom a direct translation of the other. I don't mean that they aren't word-for-word translations as this usually isn't possible; it is that the underlying meaning is actually fundamentally different. My only explanation is that the mutual dislike between anglophones and francophones is so great that whoever has to do the translation can't bring themselves to accept unaltered the thoughts of the originator. Or maybe I'm doing them an injustice.

Thursday 13 September 2001 - Friday 14 September 2001

To Camping Imperial in Quebec City, located in Quebec County in the province of Quebec. What imagination. Didn't really feel like doing much after we'd set up camp, so we slobbed out.

Next day we took in the city, which is much nicer than Montreal - cleaner and better laid out. Had an excellent lunch of beef in red wine and rabbit in plum sauce (plus soup and pud), the style and quality of food that you're supposed to find in France as a matter of course but very rarely do. Afterwards, waddled to the basilica - beautiful interior ...

More good Inuit sculpture in the Museum of Inuit Art, including a fine dancing polar bear ...

... although we got told off for taking pictures. Sorry, chaps - look on it as free advertising. In the evening visited the 3D Quebec Experience which was truly awful - almost as bad as the one on the Alamo in San Antonio. We've learnt our lesson now.

Still no-one accepting responsibility for the terrorism. Normally in circumstances like this you have to fight off the lunatic fringe groups claiming it was all their doing, but this time they're all thinking better of it. The realisation that any claim would be followed by the arrival of about 500 cruise missiles within the next 15 minutes probably has something to do with it.

Tomorrow, New Brunswick.